Government says ICBC is in a ‘financial dumpster fire’

British Columbia’s Attorney General says major reforms are on the way to extinguish a “financial dumpster fire” at the province’s public auto insurer.

David Eby says the Insurance Corporation of B.C. has posted a net loss of $935 million for the first nine months of the fiscal year, and projects that loss to increase to $1.3 billion by the end of the year.

He says the government is looking at a number of different initiatives, including caps on minor injuries, the potential for deductibles and other reforms to the basic insurance product.

Eby, who is also the minister responsible for the corporation, says it hasn’t yet been determined how rates for drivers will be affected, but he intends to keep rates affordable.

He says the previous B.C. Liberal government ignored warnings and recommendations made in a 2014 Ernst & Young report, and also appears to have removed the recommendations from the version of the report presented to the public.

The Liberals did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but said yesterday the challenges ICBC faces due to increased claims and rising accidents have long been known and they took strong measures to control costs while in office.